Firstly this series of Koihime visual novel was based on the very famous Romance of 3 Kingdoms novel in China, with countless movies/animes/mangas adaptations (ex: the Kingdom manga/anime). So I can assured to you the story of these games are very good - certified by many historians/writers in the world , and even better if you're going in blind without any knowledge about 3Kingdom Era in ancient China.
And if you're wondering "Where should I start ?" ,then my answer is what ever really .MC of this series is Kazuto,a normal JP high school student which had been isekai'd /time-travel to an alternative past Earth >> So there are many "time lines" ,and every game you read is canon/true end on it's own "time line"
Because of what I stated above ,the journeys of Kazuto would be like a classic time traveler story "making mistakes >> learned from it >> redo again and become more mature in life" in another timeline/ another version of him. This is a hidden meaning which the author and co-writers wants to conveys to you- and it was covered masterfully behind a harem-isekai-moege facade, which you can find anywhere in Japan.
The pacing is good in terms of blending gameplay with story telling part ,so you will not get bored after some reading . Between the 3Kingdom main story ,you will have chances to interact with many other characters. The game is not trying to showering you with meaningless H-scenes , instead it gives you the reasons behind the character 's action like "Why would they do this ?/ Their's thoughts and philosophy about the other's actions/ What is the real peace in this war-torned world?....etc " >>And then Kazuto-you jumping in to help them ,with his knowledge about Kendo (sword art of JP) + history learnt in modern world .You're not some kind of OP isekai mains with super ablitities /powers , the writers make Kazuto have to fight the battle of wits and this is another good point for dev team . Manytimes you will see Kazuto have to be saved by others characters- but as the story progress you will realized that he had grown up and not weak at all >>At some point the others characters have to start relies on him, his words and kindness changed people ( why I see Naruto vibe here lol) . These are the reasons - In my opinions- why the romance and H scenes feels natural and not forced like other visual novels with the same war-politics theme (in some route Kazuto act will be different - sometimes he is like "no mercy",sometimes in another route he won't act like that for example ) o/
After many previous Koihime ,developer had enough time to revised the boring gameplay >> (though not at a god like level like Sengoku Rance )into an engaging card-battle style gameplay . You will choose Action card and Formations to counter your enemy moves (ex : pass a Turn without attacking enemy -but increase Morale point by 1 to use more powerful Action card /Formation change will gives you advantages and disadvantages/ Spear troops counter Cavalry, Cavalry counter Archer...). The battle will end after 1 side's soldiers count has been depleted to zero ,so it force players have to use their's head more often than previous Koihime versions (especially at Global Elite difficulty ^^)
The art has been re-mastered very beautiful, and plus the quality + quantity voice acting ( with over 75 voice actors) will make you feels like you're watching a Hollywood 3Kingdom movie. I have no room to criticize here no joke lol 9/10 production quality ( minus 1 point because why no ENG TL ^^)
If you want to you can check out more English info about the game here in my humble Fantranslator Revolution Command Center (^..^)/''/
And if you're wondering "Where should I start ?" ,then my answer is what ever really .MC of this series is Kazuto,a normal JP high school student which had been isekai'd /time-travel to an alternative past Earth >> So there are many "time lines" ,and every game you read is canon/true end on it's own "time line"
Because of what I stated above ,the journeys of Kazuto would be like a classic time traveler story "making mistakes >> learned from it >> redo again and become more mature in life" in another timeline/ another version of him. This is a hidden meaning which the author and co-writers wants to conveys to you- and it was covered masterfully behind a harem-isekai-moege facade, which you can find anywhere in Japan.
The pacing is good in terms of blending gameplay with story telling part ,so you will not get bored after some reading . Between the 3Kingdom main story ,you will have chances to interact with many other characters. The game is not trying to showering you with meaningless H-scenes , instead it gives you the reasons behind the character 's action like "Why would they do this ?/ Their's thoughts and philosophy about the other's actions/ What is the real peace in this war-torned world?....etc " >>And then Kazuto-you jumping in to help them ,with his knowledge about Kendo (sword art of JP) + history learnt in modern world .You're not some kind of OP isekai mains with super ablitities /powers , the writers make Kazuto have to fight the battle of wits and this is another good point for dev team . Manytimes you will see Kazuto have to be saved by others characters- but as the story progress you will realized that he had grown up and not weak at all >>At some point the others characters have to start relies on him, his words and kindness changed people ( why I see Naruto vibe here lol) . These are the reasons - In my opinions- why the romance and H scenes feels natural and not forced like other visual novels with the same war-politics theme (in some route Kazuto act will be different - sometimes he is like "no mercy",sometimes in another route he won't act like that for example ) o/
After many previous Koihime ,developer had enough time to revised the boring gameplay >> (though not at a god like level like Sengoku Rance )into an engaging card-battle style gameplay . You will choose Action card and Formations to counter your enemy moves (ex : pass a Turn without attacking enemy -but increase Morale point by 1 to use more powerful Action card /Formation change will gives you advantages and disadvantages/ Spear troops counter Cavalry, Cavalry counter Archer...). The battle will end after 1 side's soldiers count has been depleted to zero ,so it force players have to use their's head more often than previous Koihime versions (especially at Global Elite difficulty ^^)
The art has been re-mastered very beautiful, and plus the quality + quantity voice acting ( with over 75 voice actors) will make you feels like you're watching a Hollywood 3Kingdom movie. I have no room to criticize here no joke lol 9/10 production quality ( minus 1 point because why no ENG TL ^^)
If you want to you can check out more English info about the game here in my humble Fantranslator Revolution Command Center (^..^)/''/